While We’re Waiting… The IDEA of Trevor Bauer

While We’re Waiting serves as the early morning gathering of WFNY-esque information for your viewing pleasure. Have something you think we should see? Send it to our tips email at tips@waitingfornextyear.com.

“The idea of Trevor Bauer is an enticing one. Not just the potential of Trevor Bauer to turn his three plus pitches into swinging strikes at the big league level, the idea of Trevor Bauer as the merit-based antihero of internet baseball fandom. He is brash and unconventional and doesn’t look like the big-armed robots throwing 200 innings in 20 starts for every major college program in the country. His delivery is defiantely modeled after that of Tim Lincecum, as if to suggest the idiom “one in a million” is just a state of mind.

His cherished long toss routine gives the uninitiated something to gawk at during pregame warm-ups. He is, as Grant Brisbee describes him, a “mechanics wonk” who posts slow motion videos of his delivery and cryptically named pitches like “the reverse slider” on Youtube for all to see. He decries the conventional wisdom which implores pitchers to keep the ball down, insisting he can work up in the zone and still be effective.

This is the idea of Trevor Bauer. The consciously eccentric savant who turns established knowledge on its ear just to say he could. The reality was much different.” [Fairservice/Getting Blanked]

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“The Cavaliers were playing on the road one night after an emotional victory at home. But what happened Wednesday at Indiana was unacceptable. Period.

The verdict: Pacers 96, Cavs 81. The sentence: Most likely the wrath of coach Byron Scott. The truth: Life in the NBA, with its constant stream of back-to-back games and lack of respect from the referees, can be brutal and downright unfair. The lesson: Get used to it, kids.” [Amico/FSO]

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“Jeremy Pargo only played three minutes tonight, with Sloan otherwise taking his minutes. His twenty minutes resulted in five points and two assists on 43% true shooting. Did I miss the back-story behind Pargo’s benching?” [Hetrick/Cavs the Blog]

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“The NFL’s handling of the investigation and suspension process was suspicious from the moment it extended its net from coaches (who must be held to a higher standard on player safety issues) to players. The penalties against Vilma and others were downright vindictive, and tangible evidence against them was scant. The NFL coyly leaked circumstantial evidence. It led the players through a mockery of an appeal process in which Goodell acted as his own prosecutor. He lessened their suspensions, infinitesimally, the benevolent emperor allowing a clean beheading in favor of a messy crucifixion. When the players appealed the appeal, Tagliabue appeared as a new obstacle to slalom around. Vilma won the temporary right to return to the field, and the NFL scheduled his hearing concurrent with the one Thursday night game on the Saints schedule, making life as inconvenient as possible for him. If the league could have fixed it so Vilma got on the wrong flight and missed a scheduled hearing date, they would have done it.

And now, suddenly, justice of some kind has been served. The players were not exonerated, but Tagliabue has ruled that their punishment in no way fit their crime. Not that we are even sure what their crime was.” [Tanier/Sports on Earth]

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I know everyone wants to sign Swisher, but do we realize that it will cost us a first round draft pick because the Yanks made him a qualifying offer? Would it be worth it considering how high we will be in the draft?

mgbode

i saw that recently as well. that’s a steep price (not only the 1st rounder, but because if we use last year’s technique of over-drafting in order to be able to have more room in the budget for our other picks).

mgbode

the more I read on Towers, the more I like this trade. Bauer was an advanced stat draft pick, Towers is an old-school guy. Bauer’s techniques, etc. are not old school. That is an obvious clash.

I don’t mind a pitcher being different. It can be an advantage as it won’t be the same that every batter faces. It can be a detriment if he cannot figure out how to adjust, but we’ll get there when it happens. let Bauer be who Bauer is and see where it leads us. all reports are that he works his butt off just in a strange way.

Alex

Our 1st round pick is top 10, so it is protected. We would only be required to surrender a 2nd round pick.

boomhauertjs

Based on the Indians’ draft history, I’m willing to take that risk.

boomhauertjs

I’ve given up trying to understand Byron’s rotations. As the game was slipping away in the 4th, he kept Kyrie and Andy on the bench until it was too late. Is he already in tanking mode?

architrance

“The results at the big league level are as worrisome as they are irrelevant.”

I’m sooo ExcitedFNY.

Natedawg86

ahh…if this is true may not be as bad

mgbode

do you know a good place where the rules are clearly defined? all the usual spots do not have these rules clear at all nor have I found it in the accompanying articles.

but even he later updated it as he read it wrong. The M`s would lose their #12 pick and the Yankees just pickup a sandwich round pick.

maxfnmloans

Does Trevor Bauer think he is the second coming of Sidd Finch? It’d be great if he was.

woofersus

The more I dig into this guy the more I’m stunned that this is the state of commentary on him in Arizona. I can’t believe they gave up on him after so little time, even if he was far more difficult to coach than anybody has indicated. (and to be fair, the only things that have been spelled out are that he closely studies his own mechanics rather than just hoping coaches will notice problems, wants to have a say in what pitches he throws, and is dead set on a weird warm-up routine. In every quote or soundbyte I’ve come across, he seems perfectly congenial)

From the UCLA website about his junior year in 2011:
“Went 13-2 with a 1.25 ERA in 16 starts, leading the country with 203 strikeouts
and 10 complete games (including the last nine consecutive) Logged at least 10
strikeouts in 14 of his 16 starts…finished the year on a stretch of nine
consecutive complete games, having posted an 8-1 record and 1.11 ERA, logging
121 strikeouts and 16 walks in 81.0 innings in that nine-start span”

Let me reiterate, this was in 2011, and he was 19. It’s 2012 right now.

Now, I recognize that most top draft picks have gaudy numbers and they don’t all pan out, but you can see why he was taken so high.

Now, let me summarize what has happened since. He pitched a grand total of 9 innings in advanced A ball. He allowed 3 runs on 7 hits and struck out 17 while walking 4. He was then promoted to AA where he hit a bit of a rough patch with an era of 7.56 on 20 hits and 14 earned runs in 16.2 innings while striking out 26 and walking 8. When he came back for the 2012 season, he started out in AA with a 7-1 record and a 1.68 era while striking out 60 and walking 26 in 33 innings. At that point, he was promoted to AAA (still only pitched a total of 58.2 professional innings) where over the rest of the 2012 season he pitched 82 innings, accumulating a 2.85 era and striking out 97. He did give up 35 walks and had a WHIP of 1.35, but if you take away a couple of outliers his numbers look an awful lot like his AA dominance.

So, that means somebody who, in his first year as a professional, put up numbers like that and advanced all the way to the majors, has been abandoned by his organization due to a 16.1 inning stint with the major league club where he struggled with his control and velocity while battling a groin injury as a 20 year old rookie. He still struck out more than a batter per inning and held opponents to a batting average of .230 mind you, but still, it was apparently considered disastrous.

I get that they have more than one top prospect to work with, and they expected to move one in order to fill some needs, and maybe they couldn’t stomach giving up their top two in order to land Cabrera, but Gregorius? They traded their pitching prospect with the highest ceiling, who has raced through the organization in one year and had success at every minor league level, for a toss-in between the Reds and Indians? Towers must really like that guy, or have been really desperate for a serviceable shortstop. I think they would have been better off sending us two top prospects for Cabrera, but I’m glad they didn’t.

I don't get too hyped up on 40 times.As long as you're not a slug, I think speeds fall into 2 categories. Fast and Fast-Enough.Jerry Rice and Michael Irvin were Fast-Enough, and they did ok.You don't have to possess olympic speed to succeed...cough cough...Renaldo Nehemiah...cough cough...

Lockett - yes please as long as 3rd or later. only issue is that he basically is a double of Hawkins (although slightly taller).Perriman - see him more as the Quincy Morgan type that got by on his raw talent but never honed the skills.Montgomery - been awhile since we had a Cardinal, but umm, […]

The NCAA Tournament was the first chance I had to see this kid play, and even though he had a miserable day shooting the ball against Arizona in OSU's second game, you could watch him in both games and just see that he oozes talent in all facets of the game. Russell is going to […]